


The Hedgehog's Waltz

by Xairathan



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Gen, canon compliant AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 14:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9764756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xairathan/pseuds/Xairathan
Summary: Mari runs into Rei on the outskirts of Tokyo-3, and both of them remember things they shouldn't.





	

Being a spy means lodging on the outskirts of the city to avoid detection, an unpleasant and lonely assignment if Mari says so herself. But in a few days Kaji’s assignment will be done and she’ll depart for friendlier climes, so what are a few days more? Besides, if there’s no one around, that means Mari’s free to take a walk under the warm sun, something she hasn’t been able to do for a long while. 

She’s on one such walk, chasing away the lingering memories of Bethany Base and that ill-fated mission, when she sees her: the First Child. Her fingers twitch, obeying that instinctive urge to grab her phone and call this in. Then Mari remembers she left her phone in her temporary lodgings to give herself a break from that constant, nagging knowledge that she’s always connected, somehow, to someone on the other end. 

Just her and the First. She can do that, she thinks, and starts forward.

The First Child is a mystery. Mari’s read all the files available, but her picture is classified information that Kaji refuses to show her, and her information is heavily redacted. All Mari knows is that her name is Rei and her hair is blue, and for some reason she’s out here in the ruins of the projects that everyone in the city’s forgotten about.

“Hey!” Mari skips forward, skirt ruffling in the wind. The First ignores her. A cold one, she is. Mari continues on until she’s caught up to the girl and fallen into the same monotonous pace as her. “What’cha doin’ here?” Mari asks, glancing up at the crumbling buildings. “Don’t you know no one lives out here?”

Again, only silence. Mari runs ahead, placing herself in the girl’s path. “Hey, don’t you know it’s rude to ignore people?”

“I do not know you,” says the First. 

“Sure you do. I go to-” Too late, Mari remembers there’s only one intermediate school left open in Tokyo-3. “-the same school that you do.”

At last the First Child lifts her head, peering at Mari’s uniform.

“Your uniform is not the same as ours.”

Kaji’s taught Mari many things- how to lie, how to divert one’s attention, how to mislead a conversation- but all that knowledge flees from her mind as Mari locks on to the girl’s face. It’s familiar, the curve of her cheeks, the height of her nose; but the hair is wrong, the eyes are wrong, and this girl is too short to be-

The mission. Mari mustn’t raise unwanted attention. “It’s the upperclassman uniform,” Mari lies, and hopes that’s enough to get by. The First merely looks away, intent on resuming her journey. “I never got your name,” Mari says.

“Rei.”

“Well, Rei, seriously.” Mari darts out in front of her again, waving both hands in the air. “As your upperclassman I’m telling you, wherever you’re headed is bad news.”

“Do not be ridiculous. There is no one here aside from us.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I pass here frequently.” 

“So you live around here?” 

Rei walks on in silence. In Mari’s experience, that’s as good as a yes. “You can’t be serious,” she mutters, going after her. It occurs to her that she could just turn and go, leave the First to wherever she’s headed, but that means leaving behind this girl with Yui’s face who’s far too strange to be any child of Yui’s. Which means- Mari’s train of thought stalls on the many documents she’s read- which means- Ikari was working on unsanctioned experiments, ones that involved the human genome- which means- 

Those red eyes stare into Mari’s face. Mari blinks, feels something warm in one of her hands. She looks down, realizes she’s wrapped a hand around Rei’s arm, keeping her from running away. Ikari might hear of this now, she thinks, but in a moment that worry is soothed: there’s a twitch of Rei’s mouth, an inexplicable one, almost as though she was trying to frown. But in that frown, there’s something behind her eyes fighting to get out, being kept down by what Mari assumes is an emotional senselessness like the one she once felt when Yui disappeared from this world.

“Yu… You shouldn’t stay by yourself,” Mari says. “I’ve got a place around here. You can stay with me.”

“I cannot.” Mari notices that Rei doesn’t phrase it as an absolute; there’s another piece of the puzzle to work with.

“You can either come with me, or I’m going with you.”

She doesn’t know why she wants to be with the First. Mari would normally find any imitation of Yui to be grotesque, unwanted. But something about these crumbling buildings and the lack of people around them has shifted something within her, or maybe she’s the one that’s really crumbled, and given in to the closest thing that will remind her of days long past.

The First Child takes a step. “You never obeyed the dress code,” she murmurs beneath her breath. Her eyes flicker again: this time, a hint of fear. “Who are you?“

Mari knows she shouldn’t give a real name. She knows what’s at risk; beyond being caught, there’s the possibility she might be recognized by Ikari or Fuyutsuki. Though would they believe it? Mari is a common enough first name that just it alone might not raise any alarms. “I’m Mari,” she says. “Nice to meet you.”

“Have we met before?” asks Rei. She fidgets for the first time, fiddling with the second button on her uniform. A lapse in attention. She’s asking things she should already know.

“No,” says Mari. “We haven’t. So, are you coming with me?”

Rei nods, a slight tilt of her head. She stands with fingers taut around her button, waiting for Mari to make a move. 


End file.
